Archeological Excursion to Mexico

Saturday-Sunday, December 21-22, 2024

Archeological Excursion to Mexico

Today’s excursion is only tangentially related to animals, but we’ll keep an eye out for them. We’re going to learn about the Purépecha culture of Mexico, featured in an article in the most recent Archaeology magazine. This Mesoamerican culture is also known as the Tarascan Empire. It was based what is now the state of Michoacán in southwestern Mexico. Their royal city, now in ruins, is located about 20 miles from the state capital, Morelia, which is the hometown of my choir co-leader, Asunción de María. People from Michoacán who speak the Purépecha language, rather than Spanish, are coming to the Diocese of Charlotte. I find this super interesting.

With that out of the way, on to real facts! The capital city of the Purépecha is called Tzintzuntzan, which means “place of the hummingbirds,” and it surely must be an onomatopoeia, imitating the whirring sound of hummingbirds’ wings. Hummingbird species found in this area include the Violet-Crowned and the Berylline.

The Purépecha Empire was at its peak from about 1350 to 1530 AD. When the Spanish arrived in 1522, Tzintzuntzan had a population of about 30,000. The Purépecha were rivals of the Aztecs and cooperated with the Spanish. This did not, unfortunately, protect them from European diseases. The city, built on the shore of Lake Pátzcuaro, featured a row of five circular “pyramids” known as “yácatas.”

When the city was occupied, there were wooden structures on top of the yácatas in which the ruling class conducted human sacrifices and drank hot chocolate.

Padre José de Jesús is explaining that this archaeological park conserves important elements of the national cultural patrimony of Mexico. Like other Mesoamerican cultures, the Purépecha made pottery vessels and figures out of local clay, but they were best known among their contemporaries for metalwork. Their techniques – and their language - are believed to have originated on the Pacific coast of South America, implying a migration further in the past.

They worked in copper, silver, gold, and alloys of all three metals. Some pieces were made with lost-wax casting techniques, while many others were hammered. They also worked with obsidian, which was found in many areas around the volcanic landscape. This site has pictures of a variety of artifacts.

Low water levels at Lake Pátzcuaro have recently revealed a Purépecha canoe, some polished and etched human bones, and many other finds. The local government is very concerned about the lake’s decline.

Like Peru, Mexico has a native hairless dog, the Xoloitzcuintli. They appear to be more of an Aztec thing than a Purépecha thing, with artifacts and remains found in the greater Mexico City area.

Unlike many dog breeds, the “Xolo” has been breeding naturally for many generations and does not show the effects of inbreeding, although that may change now that they are part of the dog show industry.